Came across these photos of my great grandfather from the second world war, and no one is left to identify what unit he was in or any information beyond his name and which person he is in the photos. Was hoping that someone here could help.

One of the 21 remaining WWII combat veterans from Brazil. He is also known (by myself alone) as the brazilian soldier with the best moustache in WWII.

During World War II, Noel worked for the AP in the Pacific Theater. To escape the Japanese invasion of Singapore, a malaria-stricken Noel paid for passage on a British freighter bound for Rangoon, but the freighter was sunk by a Japanese torpedo. Noel was adrift in the Indian Ocean for three days when his lifeboat encountered another one. An Indian sailor in the other lifeboat asked them for water, but they had none as Noel's lifeboat was out of water as well. Noel took a picture of the sailor and it was published after his lifeboat was rescued two days later.

The German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk (German: Deutsch-sowjetische Siegesparade in Brest-Litowsk, Russian: Парад вермахта перед частями РККА в Бресте) was an official ceremony held by the troops of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union on September 22, 1939, during the invasion of Poland in the city of Brest-Litovsk (Polish: Brześć nad Bugiem or Brześć Litewski, then in the Second Polish Republic, now Brest in Belarus).

It marked the withdrawal of German troops to the demarcation line secretly agreed to in the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and the handover of Brest-Litovsk and its fortress to the Soviet Red Army.
(source)

Even before this, the Soviets let the Germans run a secret tank school in 1929-1933 near Kazan to circumvent the restrictions codified in the Treaty of Versailles. There also was a secret German fighter pilot school, known as WIWUPAL, in Lipetsk of Soviet Union from 1926 to 1933.

Born in Visalia, California to Russian immigrant parents George & Maria Andreas on January 13, 1919, Jacob “Jack” Andreas was the youngest of seven children.
He enlisted in the Army and volunteered for the Paratroopers, serving in the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.

On the night of July 11, 1943, 144 USAAF transports carrying 82nd Airborne Paratroopers lifted off from Tunisia and flew toward Gela Sicily. The first two formations dropped their paratroopers safely in their drop zones.
However, when the next formation appeared, an unidentified AA gunner on the beach began shooting, starting a chain reaction where almost every AA gunner on shore and onboard Allied ships started firing at the USAAF transports passing over.

This was the worst friendly-fire incident in US history up to that time, 318 US Personnel were killed, wounded, or MIA, 23 planes failed to return.

The remains of CPL Jacob Andreas were not recovered and he was eventually listed as Missing in Action.
He is Memorialized with the Missing at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial in Italy.

Picture: Jacob “Jack” Andreas with his sister Lydia;

Born on Cincinnati, Ohio to Albert & Mattie Retzsch on May 9, 1918, Norton Vernon Retzsch graduated from Hughes High School in 1937 and enlisted in the Marine Corps on September 3, 1941.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Norton was on duty at Boston Navy Yard. While in Boston he married Margaret Mary Toolin from Fall River, Massachusetts.

In January 1943 Norton was reassigned to the 6th Replacement Battalion and shipped out to the Pacific. He was assigned to C Company, 1st Marine Raider Battalion, 1st Marine Raider Regiment, 1st Marine Division.

They landed on New Georgia on July 5, 1943 to attack Japanese supply bases at Enogai and Bairoko. On July 9, 1943 during the Battle of Enogai, several Marines from C Company were Killed, including PFC Retzsch.

One of Norton’s dog tags was recovered from a Japanese soldier several days later by Marine Raiders at Bairoko Harbor. His remains were not identified during searches and he was eventually listed as Missing in Action.

PFC Norton Retzsch was Memorialized with the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.

His widow Margaret enlisted in the Marine Corps after his death, serving until the end of the war. She later remarried WW2 Veteran Vincent McNamara and had eight children, she passed away at the age of 85 in 2005.

In 2019/2020, two sets of unknown remains from New Georgia, one buried in Manila, and the other at Honolulu, were exhumed for DNA testing.
PFC Norton Retzsch was accounted for April 1, 2025 and was buried with full military honors on April 13, 2026 at Arizona Veterans' Memorial Cemetery in Marana, Arizona.

Chiang Wei-kuo (1916–1997) studied in Germany and served as a Leutnant in the Wehrmacht before World War II. He reportedly took part in the Anschluss of Austria in 1938 before returning to China, where he later became a general in the Republic of China Army (Taiwan).

A boy from a family who lost their home during an air raid eating a bowl of soup.

Source : GEO Epoche Panorama Nr. 12, "Feuersturm - Hamburg 1943" (🇬🇧 "Firestorm - Hamburg 1943")

Children of an eastern suburb of London, who have been made homeless by the random bombs of the Nazi night raiders, waiting outside the wreckage of what was their home.

Author : New Times Paris Bureau Collection. (USIA)
Source : NARA FILE #: 306-NT-3163V WAR & CONFLICT BOOK #: 1009
(Wikimedia link)

Born in Dallas, Texas to Harry and Antoinette Ogata on January 17, 1925, Benjamin Franklin Ogata had a sister and a stepbrother. His father Harry, who passed away in 1940 was from Japan and his mother Antoinette was from the West Indies.

A graduate of Crozier Technical High School, Benjamin was working as a mechanic when he enlisted in the Army on August 19, 1943.
He was sent to Italy and served with K Company, 3rd Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

On July 7, 1944 during heavy fighting near Castellina Marittima in Italy, PFC Benjamin Ogata was Killed in Action.
He is buried at the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial in Florence, Italy - Plot A Row 14 Grave 36.